But on January 1, 2017 her mom, Daniella Wride noticed something strange about her daughter's long locks.

"Gianessa had taken a shower. After her shower, I was helping her brush her hair" mother Daniella said. "I noticed that a lot of hair was coming out in the hairbrush so I began looking around her head. I found a bald patch on the back of her head the size of a quarter. I also noticed that around her temples it was beginning to thin."

Since Daniella was a nurse, she had a few theories of what could have caused the hair loss, including stress, but her daughter lost her hair so rapidly Daniella wondered if the cause was alopecia. Due to demand, it took a month for Gianessa to go to her first doctor's consultation - by this time, she was completely bald.

"She has been diagnosed with alopecia areata. It is an auto-immune disease," Daniella wrote on Instagram after the appointment. She explained that the doctors thought Gianessa's body went overboard when trying to fight the stomach flu. Instead, her body ended up creating antibodies that attacked her hair.

Stacie Simpson is a FamilyShare staff writer. She loves listening to, gathering and sharing stories and advice to help others improve their quality of life. She spends most of her free time with her husband, ballroom dancing, reading and writing.